In the prior art, cool or heat transfer is conducted through cooling and heating a liquid, such as water, and is almost entirely driven by specific heat capacity. In other prior art, a refrigerant is employed where the refrigerant boils on the side requiring cooling and condenses on the side supplying the cooling, or, in the case of heating, the refrigerant working fluid boils on the side supplying heating and condenses on the side requiring the heating. This often requires expensive refrigerant handling systems and becomes cost prohibitive for transferring cold relatively long distances.
Additionally, both of said prior art systems do not typically transfer cold or heat independent of the temperature or other conditions of their surroundings. If the working fluid in these cooling systems arrives at the cooling application at the same temperature as the ambient surroundings, the working fluids may lose most or all of the cool or heat provided to them at the cooling or heating input source or sources. For example, in a specific heat coolant based cooling system, if the coolant heats up over the course of transfer to the cooling demand source, for example, due to elevated temperatures surrounding the transport pipe, the coolant loses a significant amount or all of its cooling potential upon arriving at the application requiring cooling. As a result, there are significant limitations to the distance a specific heat can be transported while maintaining its ability to cool. The same is true for heat transfer systems, except, for example, the losses due to surroundings heating the working fluid are substituted with losses due to the surroundings cooling the working fluid.
Additionally, the CAPEX and OPEX of specific heat coolant or heat transfer systems become very costly with distance traveled, including, but not limited, due to the progressively larger relative liquid volumes required with larger transport distances and the cost of insulated piping or other components. Similarly, with refrigerant based coolants, if the condensed refrigerant is heated by its surroundings during transportation to the cooling demand source, at least a portion of the refrigerant may evaporate or volatilize, resulting in reduced or non-existent cooling capacity upon arrival at the cooling application. The same is true for heat transfer systems, except, for example, the losses may be due to working fluid condensation rather than volatilization. Also, similarly, with refrigerant based coolants or heat transfer fluids, the CAPEX and OPEX becomes very costly with distance traveled, including, but not limited, due to the progressively larger working fluid flow rates per unit of cooling capacity required with larger distances, the cost of insulated piping, and the precautions and hazards associated with refrigerants. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for more effective systems and processes for both cooling and heating applications.
Advantageously, the embodiments described herein overcome many or all of the aforementioned deficiencies in the prior art and have their own independent advantages as well. There are many embodiments which are set forth in detail below. Certain embodiments pertain to refrigeration cycles while others pertain to adjustment of active cloud point, i.e., critical solution temperature. Additionally, novel compositions comprising various critical solution temperature reagents and the like are described.